Masks
by Twins 'n Fandoms
Summary: Percy wears a mask so much he believes the mask is himself. Bound to the mask, he hopes someday, someone would eventually take it off. And he did find someone who wore a mask, just like him. (Written as a prompt for SpartanBoy and a birthday gift for Mari.) Preyna.


**I realized I loved this ship and didn't even bother to write something about it. Well, it's about time (with the help of a story prompt of my fellow Preyna shipper, SpartanBoy) I made up my mind and write something. I'm getting distracted from writing Mari's birthday shot but her birthday is getting near...**

 **So, yes, it's dedicated to all of them rare-pair shippers (such as this one) out there. Especially SpartanBoy.**

 **And Marrione. HAPPYYYYYYYY BIRTHDAYYYYYYY MARIIIIIIIII. (June 11,2018)**

 **Enjoy, y'all.**

 **ALSO, WARNING. ONE-SIDED PERCABETH, DARK!PERCY, PERCYXREYNA FLUFF AND ANGST PLUS PERCABETH FRIEND ZONE AND DRAMA. ALSO DRAMATIC DEATHS.**

 **(Don't say I didn't warned you.)**

* * *

Disclaimer:

Louise propped her elbows on the head as she rest her head on her folded hands. "Yeah, I'm bored right now." she looked up at the screen and rubbed her eyes. "So Mari and Karl are enjoying their last weekend of summer so I'm left alone." she typed the disclaimer before she stood up and stretched.

She let out a yawn and unknowingly slammed her hand on the power off button.

Then she rested her head on the table when the disclaimer flashed on her screen.

 **I... DON'T... OWN... PERSASSIUS... AND EMPRESS RARA... OR... THE SERIES...**

* * *

Prompt: Percy wears a mask so much that he believes the mask is himself but eventually someone would take it off. Annabeth and him have a mutual breakup, then he leaves camp and accidentally stumbles into Camp Jupiter where he finds another person with a mask just like him.

(Sorry, Spartan, I changed some parts over in this prompt XD)

* * *

"D-did... did you ever love me?" Asked the dying demigod's feeble voice, echoing in the empty throne room of the gods. It took the blond girl a few moments, her grey intense eyes worriedly staring at Percy and back again at Luke before closing her eyes.

"I always did, Luke..." she clasped his hand in her own as she whispered it, firmly like a final promise and a final oath. "Always."

And for Percy, it was the final straw.

-o-

That was when Percy Jackson learned how he shouldn't wear his heart on his sleeve, where someone like Annabeth would arrive and shatter it to pieces.

He learned his lesson. And he would not repeat the same mistake twice.

Instead, he hid his heart underneath and donned a mask. The mask who would turn the dark, angsty, heartbroken Percy Jackson into a cheerful, heroic and smiling Percy Jackson.

But he never knew, he was already the slave of the mask. And because of that, he almost lost his sanity.

-o-

"Percy, what the heck is your problem?" Annabeth sat next to him.

He turned away. "It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Annabeth echoed. "That's right, nothing keeps my best friend from turning down immortality, and will still be sad about it."

Percy thought he heard his hastily repaired heart shatter once more. "Yeah, that's about right."

Annabeth's grey eyes softened. "The operative word being best friend. So talk to me."

Percy sighed. "It's nothing, I'm just thinking about all those demigod lives who sacrificed themselves to save the world." He stared at the sky, where his friend Zoe was resting in the stars as the constellation Huntress, was twinkling down at them both. "Like Benkendorf, Silena Beauregard, Micheal Yew, Ethan Nakamura..." he trailed off.

"Like Luke?" Annabeth's voice was wistful, like she couldn't recapture a sweet memory from her childhood.

Percy Jackson turned away once again, crushed by how Annabeth was still after Luke even if he was dead.

-o-

(There were also times where Percy could take off his mask and he believed he could drink away all of his problems and drown his sorrows... and he didn't know he did.)

"Mom, I'm home..." Percy slammed the door and drunkenly stumbled across the kitchen to his room, where his mom stopped him.

"Percy, what happened to you?" His mom worriedly looked at him, taking in his weary sea-green eyes, his ripped clothes, his bloody mouth and the smell of alchohol and beer lingering on his tongue.

She gently pried Percy's hands out of his jacket and saw his bloody knuckles. "Percy... what happened?"

Suddenly Percy ripped his hands out of his mother's own. "Leave me alone!" He roared as he marched over to his room and slammed the door shut.

Outside, he heard his mom's wails and cries.

(And that's when he put his mask once more again.)

-o-

"Seaweed Brain, quit this thing."

"Quit what?" He was surprized to hear his voice harsh against the leaning Annabeth on his cabin door.

"Quit this. This whole tense thing between us."

"Oh, there's an us?"

"Quit the sass, Percy. I miss my best friend."

"Huh. I bet you miss Luke more."

Annabeth looked down. "Is that why you're shunting me? Is that what this is all about?"

Percy looked up from his bed and studied Annabeth. "Maybe."

"Seaweed Brain, don't tell me you're jealous of Luke."

"So what if I am?"

"What's there to be jealous about Luke? He's dead," Annabeth reminded him.

"And you still care about him. Even if he's dead."

"Because he's my friend."

"You said you loved him."

"Yeah, I do." He heard Annabeth's defensive edge in her voice.

"You have to stop pretending, you know."

"Pretending what?"

"Pretending there's nothing between us. We're more than just best friends and you know it." Percy stared at Annabeth, who opened her mouth and closed it, before her grey stormy eyes hardened. "I don't know what you're talking about." She harshly told him off.

Percy stood up. "I threw away everything for you, but now I know you won't do the same."

Then he ran away. Like the coward his broken mask tried to hide inside.

-o-

"Let me get lost..." He murmured over and over again as he ran away from Camp Half-Blood, his home, his shelter.

There was a desire, an inclination, a want to escape into an unknown future. To wander around forever, without anybody stopping him and hauling him back home.

It was always there. Always within the back of his mind, always in reach whenever needed.

He always wondered what it was like to run away, to carve a new path of life, to start a new adventure in the world. To change his identity. To change his name. To forget it all. To go somewhere where nobody could recognize the so-called great Percy Jackson. To start life all over again. To never go back.

To hide once more inside the mask.

-o-

He got his wish.

One morning, he woke up, with no memories at all. None.

His memories were just gone, plain gone. No trace. No nothing.

Except for his name.

And that was what he wished for.

-o-

Lupa looked down at him, a glint of pride in her eyes. _You are ready,_ she howled.

Percy looked up at the wolf goddess. "Where should I go now?"

 _Look for the camp._ She growled, gesturing at the maps draped all over the table. _You know where the camp is. You have studied it for days. You are ready to face camp._

Percy only nodded. "I am ready to go to Camp Jupiter." He paused. "Thank you, Lupa."

Lupa's eyes glinted once more with pride. _Go and make me proud._

-o-

"Who are you?" The dark-haired praetor directed at him.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

Something in the praetor's eyes darkened. "Percy Jackson. I know that name."

"I don't remember you, though."

Confusion flashed across her eyes before it became blank once more. "You wouldn't," she harshly said. "Before, I was only a mere handmaiden of Circe in the spa."

 _Circe._ Something rang a bell in Percy's mind.

"Circe... spa... guinea pig..." he muttered, images flickering before coming to a stop.

The praetor sighed. "You made quite a commotion in the spa."

Percy rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe if you could tell me your name, praetor, I might recover my memories."

Intense onyx eyes met his own. "The name is Reyna."

Percy looked at her. "You are quite a queen, Praetor Reyna."

Reyna smirked. "So I've been told."

-o-

"Me? Why would you choose a newbie to be a praetor?"

"A man who would question power? That's not very Roman of you."

"Well, I'm not from around here so..."

Reyna arched an eyebrow. "Will you take my offer or not?"

"Are you really this desperate?"

Reyna sighed. "Yes. I saw how you confronted the gorgons. I know how you fight. Frank and Hazel follow you like you're the leader. I don't see why you couldn't become praetor. Also, I do not want Octavian to reign."

Percy snorted. "The blond scarecrow be praetor? That is one nightmare."

Reyna allowed herself a small smile. "I know."

Percy googled at her. "Did... did you just smile?"

Reyna frowned. "Uh, no."

"Did I just get the ever-stoic, hardcore, badass, Praetor Reyna to _smile?"_

"No, my mouth just twitched."

"Huh. Yeah, Queen Reyna's mouth just twitched. And did I ever tell you how adorable you are?"

Reyna snorted. "What? No."

Percy smirked. "Admit it."

"I admit nothing, Percy."

(And Percy's affection will turn into love.)

-o-

"What's the feeling?" Percy, now a praetor, settled next to her as she stared at the stars.

"Of?" Reyna arched an eyebrow, not bothering to look at him.

"Of wearing a mask for so long?"

"A mask?" She turned her gaze to him.

Percy looked at her with sad eyes. "Yeah. A mask."

"It's about your memories, isn't it?" She asked him.

"Yes. How do you know?"

"You could ask me the same thing. You're lucky to have amnesia."

"Yeah. I guess I am." Percy kicked a stone. "I wish I don't remember again." His voice was wistful.

"The past doesn't define who you are right now." She only said.

"But it makes me who I am."

"True, but for me," she gestured to herself. "That's why I wore a mask. And ran away. And made my own future."

Percy was silent for a count of ten.

"Reyna?"

"Yes?"

"Does it ever stop hurting inside?"

"No. You just make room for it and keep trying to ignore it."

"How much longer though?"

Reyna took Percy's hand and squeezed it. "Soon, Percy. Soon."

(And that's where Reyna's mask showed cracks for her love for the son of Poseidon.)

-o-

Percy wanted to stay inside. Unfortunately for him, he was dragged outside by Hazel and Frank as the large outline of the majestic Argo II floated above Camp Jupiter.

"That's the Argo II?" Frank unbelievably remarked as they ventured outside.

Legionnaires flooded out of the Forum, out of the barracks, out of everywhere as they gathered around the Greeks.

Percy was greeted with whispers and hisses of _graceus_ around as they made a way for him, Frank and Hazel towards the newcomers.

"Percy." He recognized Annabeth, the girl who broke his heart, whispered as another blond boy tried to restrain her.

He paid her no mind, only staring at the Argo II crew before Reyna found her way through the crowd and was standing beside him, clasping his hand for comfort.

"Welcome back, home... Jason, my former colleague," she spoke with such venom, that Jason winced.

"Percy..." Annabeth stared at their interwined hands as Percy clasped them tighter, wanting a solid, dependable anchor before his mask would come falling apart in front of Annabeth.

-o-

"Percy... I admit it." was the first thing Annabeth said to him as he showed her around the Camp.

Reyna. Manipulative, calculating everything, smart Reyna. Telling him to tour Annabeth around camp.

 _Give her a chance,_ her eyes said. _Talk to each other. I can't face you looking horrible everyday because you just couldn't talk to her._

"Admit what?" Percy stiffly said as Annabeth's hand hovered over his shoulder.

"I admit we may have been more than just friends. It's just..." Her voice faltered. "Luke. Everytime I feel something for you, I feel guilty." Her hand rested on Percy's shoulder.

Percy shrugged her hand away. "It's fine. I've moved on."

"Moved on..." Annabeth echoed. "With that girl? What's her name? Regine? Reah? Oh... Reyna. That's the girl you moved on with?"

Percy turned around. "She's just a friend, who's just like me! Rejected, lost, horrible pasts."

Annabeth crossed her arms and snorted. "Horrible past. I suppose you meant me."

"Maybe. The point is, Reyna's like a sister to me! She's the big sister slash best friend I never had."

Annabeth winced. "What about me? You only knew her for like two weeks."

"At least she knows what I've been to."

"Been to what? I've been practically beside you since we were twelve!" Annabeth threw her hands up. "Can't you see what's happening to you? All this is dragging you away from what's important! From what you love. From your loved ones!

"Oh really? Who might that be?"

"Me, you idiot."

"Not anymore, Annabeth."

(And that's his final words, his final promise to her.)

-o-

It was time for war.

Ahh, war. One of Reyna's most favorite occasions.

The spear was not thrown only once, yet twice. But instead at the Greeks, it was directed at Gaea.

And for once, the Romans and Greeks stood together.

"Legion! Ad Aciem!" She ordered. "Ave Romae!"

"Ave Romae!" The legion replied as they ran into battle with Gaea's forces.

She wasn't only a praetor. She was a queen. And a queen is not weak.

The Greeks charged at the monster hoarde slashing and hacking with no organization, the Romans took a more slow approach choosing to walk in testudo formation to protect from arrows.  
Once the monsters were close enough, they spread out breaking formation to make a line, four soldiers thick, the first used pilums, attempting to hold the monsters of with the range, of the spears. They gave up when a hellhound leapt over there killzone, and killed a legionnaire, they switched to swords, the first line of monsters charged, trying to attack the archers that were in the back.  
"Percy once Gaea arrives, I need you to distract her," Reyna yelled over the battlefield, to her former fellow praetor, throwing a pilum over his head, embedding itself on a leaping hellhound infront of Percy.  
Percy snorted as he ducked and slashed behind Reyna."You're just saying that so you can get more monster kills and win our bet!" Percy accused as he grabbed Reyna's pilum, and tossed it back to her as Reyna smirked, "Maybe!

Three crudely made spears flew past her head and her ear and she yelled a battlecry, turned around and went into battle.

-o-

When Gaea arrived, Percy was having an excellent time beating Reyna in the kill contest when a huge dirt tidal wave came in. Everyone got stuck, it was like quicksand that was three feet deep. Suddenly Gaea appeared and she looked different.

"I finally know why my husband wants a physical form," she laughed. "Power... that has been taken away from me in millenia... now in my hands!"

Instead of looking like a walking piece of dirt sludge just put together by a toddler, she looked like a beautiful nymph. She walked around, inspecting everyone.

"Ahhh, Perseus Jackson, the demigod who killed my son. But, don't worry, I already punished you for that, with... Your stepfather, remember? He was such a nice man, even taking you out to a ball game, but he suddenly changed. Almost overnight, he started abusing you, slashing you with his knife, or hitting you with beer bottles and his fists. " Percy struggled to break free, but the earth held him firmly as Gaea made mockeries of his abusive stepfather Gabe.

"My spirits possessed him, forcing him to attack you, and you thought it was just his personality. Don't you get it, you caused an innocent man to get turned to stone." Percy struggled more using his water powers to try to weaken the dirt, desperate to be free. "And, even better, you didn't tell any of your friends this, they all believe you had the perfect childhood. Most of your friends were jealous of you. Because they thought you had a happy perfect hcildhood, while they suffered much, much more at the hands of their parents."

Suddenly Percy was free, he pulled out Riptide and struck the ground. The ground shaked before the quicksand slowly dissipated into the cracks of earth Percy made. The demigods all took a moments before charging in, the Greeks with no organization, the Romans not hesitating to just charge right in.

Suddenly Gaea snatched up a demigod and presented it to them. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Keep attacking me, you useless demigods. You wouldn't want your precious Annabeth Chase to die, right Jackson?"

The Greeks and Romans stopped what they were doing, frozen as they stared at the blond girl held up above the ground, struggling to break free.

Percy was silent for a few moments before he impaled the ground with his sword, leaving it standing there like a giant toothpick. "Annabeth may be my friend. She might be my best friend. But she isn't worth hundreds of demigods."

He stared in Annabeth's grey horror-stricken eyes before he grabbed his sword and used his powers to create a hurricane and blasted Gaea's hand holding Annabeth with such force, it came apart.

"Ave Romae!" A loud chorus from the Romans rose as they went back into battle, killing monsters that came out of cracks of earth that Gaea had summoned.

"Greeks!" The Greeks yelled like a banshee running free as they attacked Gaea herself.

And Percy charged the primordial of the earth head on.

-o-

Jason caught Annabeth at the last moment. Fine by Percy. He wasn't about the catch her anytime soon.

Jason put her down as he flew up beside Percy.

"Percy, let me handle it, " Jason yelled, running to the demigod, who had dropped his hurricane and began running up Gaea's arm and slashed. The prophecy had called for a storm. Percy was only a stormbringer, only Jason could summon a storm.

"Okay, Jason...go do i-" Percy faceplanted, the power he used was too much, strangely the storm he inflicted on Gaea was still coming. (B/N I was running out of ideas) (A/N why B/N? You're like the one who came up with the plot and still helped me.)

Jason caught Percy by the shoulders and set him down on the ground with a gentle breeze before he attacked Gaea (A/N Jercy's bromance... hehehehe) with a giant metal dragon ridden by Piper and LEO!

Reyna ran over towards him and speared an empousai. "I got your back, Jackson!"

Percy heaved a deep breath. "No 'Are you okay?' or 'Are you fine?'"

Reyna snorted. "Percy, we're literally fighting here. Besides, if you want to be babied, I'll bring you over to your Greek healer." She nodded at a small tent beside the Big House that was quite full as she pulled her pilum.

"N-nooo. I want to fight." He stood up, leaning on Reyna heavily.

"You're way too heavy, Percy," she grunted as she flung a silver dagger at an incoming werewolf, which turned to ashes almost instantly and she ran over and picked it up once more.

"Reyna?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for having my back."

"Anytime." Reyna managed a smile.

-o-

"YOU. WANT. TO. SLEEP." Piper yelled out powerfully with her charmspeak at Gaea.

"Nonsense, child..." Gaea sleepily countered as Piper's charmspeak flowed over her, the monsters and the demigods, all who slowed down.

Gaea was now floating in the air, being lured by Piper to sleep once more, and being burned by Leo to ashes as the remaining demigods fought against the last monsters.

With her dying breath, she whispered. "If I'm going down, you're coming with me!"

Festus breathed fire as they flew higher and dragged Jason and Piper along with them, trying to avoid Gaea's crudely made dirt hands. Instead, she grabbed for Percy, who was leaning on Reyna, and pulled them under as Gaea went back to sleep.

-o-

 _It was a mistake putting you in Tartarus, where there was escape._ Gaea's voice flowed over them. _But there is no escape when you are trapped under a mile of solid rock._

"We can survive this!" Percy yelled, struggling to see in total darkness.

 _Don't you see, Perseus? This is where I am strongest. You cannot escape my terrain. Goodbye Perseus, and good luck surviving for the next millennia._ Gaea's voice murmured before she went back to her slumber.

Reyna pounded on what she thought was solid rock. "She wasn't lying!"

Percy uncapped Riptide, which had appeared in his pocket and provided a faint light source. "Think we can drill away using our weapons?"

Reyna hit the ceiling using her pilum, which broke. "It's magically hardened rock." She faced him, sadness in her face. There's nothing we can do now."

"There must be a way." Percy defiantly said.  
Reyna looked at him wistfully. "Don't you get it Percy? It's over."

-o-

They were both on the verge of death but reached for each other in the faint light of Riptide.

Their interwined hands gave each other a sense of calmness, peace and comfort, and a spark of hope, tying them to life once more, but for atleast a little longer.

"If we just had more time..." Percy's voice softly muttered. "We could've been something more."

Reyna's fierce brown eyes never ceased to amaze him. "I know, Percy. I know."

"I wish you could've atleast taken off your mask and give me a chance." He whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

"I didn't. You took it off for me." A ghost of a sad smile graced her face.

Percy smiled sadly too. "You did too."

Their fingers tightened their hold on each other as the smiles begam to fade from their faces. Words that never have the chance to be spoke filled the silence. Rather than reflecting on the pasts hidden by their masks, they dreamed of a future that could have never been, all because of their masks. The masks that slaved them. Most importantly, the masks that found each other.

All of this they dreamt until their hands went limp.

* * *

 **I know it's like three days after Mari's birthday buuuut I wanted to give her this.**

 **Plus, SpartanBoy is awesome, he beta-ed this story, helped me and added some parts. This was also a prompt I promised to do (I already put it on my schedule lol)**

 **Gahhh, this whole story is made from prompts. Prompts I found on google images, prompts on and even the plot was a prompt (by Spartan)**

 **This is my only Preyna fic (sadly) because I tried my hand at this, and while SpartanBoy did a great job editting my work, I think it was pretty forced. So this is therefore my very best and my absolute worst attempt at a Preyna fic. (Choose which one). I may pick it up and write another but the chances are reallyyyy close to nil. Sorry guys XD (unless you people want me to do one again :P)**

 **Happy Birthday, twinnnnn.**

 **P.S There's still an epilogue waiting to be uploaded...**

 **P.P.S Four thousand words! Longest recorddddd (also... with the help of SpartanBoy)**

 _ **-** Marrione _& **Louise**


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